Antiferromagnetism and insulator-metal transition of alkali metal-loaded sodalite.

Alkali metal clusters with a single unpaired s-electron can be arranged three-dimensionally in a sodalite crystal by loading the guest alkali atoms. Na, K, and K-Rb alloy clusters are known to be Mott insulators and to exhibit antiferromagnetic ordering. The Néel temperature increases from about 50 K to about 100 K in this order. In this study, Li-Na alloy, Na-K alloy, and pure Rb samples were newly prepared and their magnetic, electrical conductivity, and optical properties were investigated, including those of previous samples. The Na-K alloy samples showed antiferromagnetic properties, which were intermediate between those of the Na and K samples. However, the Rb sample showed a non-magnetic metallic state. The shallower ionization potential in Rb is thought to cause an insulator-metal transition (Mott transition) due to weaker on-site Coulomb repulsion between electrons and larger electron transfer energy between neighboring clusters. On the other hand, the Li-Na alloy sample showed a non-magnetic insulating state. It is thought that the two electrons form a spin-singlet pair due to the strong electron-lattice interaction. In terms of electron correlations and polaron effects, the full picture of the element species dependence of the alkali metal-loaded sodalite is reviewed.

Direct observation by neutron diffraction of antiferromagnetic ordering in s electrons confined in regular nanospace of sodalite.

Sodium clusters formed in the regular nanospace of sodalite (aluminosilicate zeolite) are known to show antiferromagnetic order without any magnetic elements. The clusters are arrayed in a body centered cubic structure. We have performed a neutron diffraction study and succeeded in detecting the magnetic Bragg peaks of the s-electron spins for the first time. The observation of both 001 and 111 magnetic reflections confirms the antiferromagnetic order with the antiparallel coupling between the nearest neighbor clusters. The magnetic form factor was examined by analyzing the intensity ratios of the magnetic and nuclear Bragg peaks. The result is in good agreement with the shape of the s-electron wave function derived from theoretical studies of the sodium nanoclusters in the cages.